Giving the gift of music to at-risk kids in Grand Rapids

Every once and a while, our State of Opportunity team receives a story pitch from someone in the community who's trying to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged youth. This is one of those stories. It’s a piece about boys, girls, and the universal language of music.

The pitch came in from a guy named Casey Stratton. He's the music program coordinator at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth, and he sent us a bunch of audio from the kids in his program - everything from strumming their guitars to playing Ode to Joy on the keyboard to banging on some drums. But it was the kids' rendition of "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers that ultimately made us say yes to the story. The song was just too catchy and the kids were just too cute to resist.

Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself on the State of Opportunity page. Here's the link.

On June 18, the Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education approved next year’s budget for their district. MLive reports that although the 2012-2013 budget includes $9 million in cuts due to decreased enrollment, board members voted to allocate $990,000 to hire 11 more teachers to support increased arts education.

These additional teachers will facilitate full-year—as opposed to semester-long—art and music instruction for the district’s elementary school students.

In addition to the financial boost, students in Grand Rapids schools have also received attention from celebrities this month.

On June 14, students from City and Creston high schools in Grand Rapids accompanied the British-American rock band Foreigner on stage at the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park Amphitheater singing their hit, “I Wanna Know What Love Is.”